The Toronto Maple Leafs are nearing the finish line in a battle with a division rival team to land Max Pacioretty in free agency.
The 35-year-old veteran Max Pacioretty has yet to sign a deal for the 2024-25 NHL season, following two years marked by significant injuries. With training camps set to start in the coming days, the player is expected to sign a contract soon, and two teams remain in the derby, according to The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta.
Pacioretty is coming off a one-year, $2 million contract with the Washington Capitals. No reports have indicated how much the player is looking to earn now, but a good guess would be something with a similar AAV.
In a recent report, the insider revealed that the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings are interested in signing the former Montreal Canadiens captain to a contract for the next season:
'As TFP's David Pagnotta reported a week ago on NHL Network, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings are among the teams that have expressed varying degrees of interest in Pacioretty.'
The Maple Leafs aren't in an ideal financial situation as of now. They only have $1.275 million of available cap space. To sign Pacioretty, they'd likely need to complete a trade or ship one of their players to the AHL with the Marlies.
The Fourth Period suggested that they could trade Conor Timmins and his $1.1 million contract, or send him to the AHL, but they would risk losing him for nothing on waivers.
However, with many interesting prospects in the Leafs organization, signing another player could turn out to be a mistake. Not only would this leave them with no money available to make deals at the trade deadline, but it could deprive one of their valuable prospects, such as Alexander Nylander, Alex Steeves, Nikita Grebenkin, Easton Cowan, or Fraser Minten, of getting NHL experience.
Pagnotta added that the veteran isn't interested in signing a professional tryout deal either:
His other option, the Detroit Red Wings, are also in a tough spot. They currently have $17.648 million available but must sign their top young players (who are all restricted free agents) Lucas Raymond, Jonatan Berggren, and Moritz Seider before the start of next season. After all these deals get done, Steve Yzerman's organization shouldn't have a lot of money left to add other players.
